BRISBANE — Tony Gustavsson says that there will be no room for sentimentality at the selection table in Australia’s World Cup third-place playoff against Sweden, with it his intention that the strongest possible side will take the field.
After suffering a heartbreaking loss to England in their semifinal, the Matildas will seek to end their home World Cup on something of a high when they take on Sweden at Lang Park on Saturday evening with a “bronze medal” on the line.
Alanna Kennedy was ruled out with delayed onset concussion symptoms on Friday morning but the rest of the squad trained, albeit Katrina Gorry, her left leg encased in a pressure bandage, was on an individualised, lighter load during the portion of training open to the media.
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Though he has spent much of his tenure preaching that it will take “23 in 23” – 23 members of a squad to succeed in the 2023 World Cup – Gustavsson has stuck with a core group of players in his starting XIs throughout the tournament, as well as waiting until deep into games to turn to his bench.
After going 120 minutes against France in their quarterfinal, though, this consistent squad appeared to lose a step in the game with England; the Lionesses’ physical gameplan stymying the Australian’s attempts to transition and Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo scored their second and third goal in the final 20 minutes.
Additionally, with a third-place game traditionally being perceived as a lower-stakes tie, the option of giving players that have seen limited minutes, such as Alex Chidiac or Charli Grant, or failed to see the park at all, such as Aivi Luik and Lydia Williams, a chance to play extended minutes at a home tournament was a possibility.
